Ice-cream package filling mechanism



Sept. 20, 1949. F. D. PALMER ICE-CREAM PACKAGE FILLING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25, 1944 I raw-squat, 1m

UNITED mus P T r'i'm'lii' to I. n.

. echioam t a corporation of so. 1644, SerialNo. scam i cam. (cl. see-1a) This invention relates .to improved mechanism for delivering ice cream (and other similar products) into a carton, especially in connection with package filling machinery wherein the cartons are automatically fed step by step.

In'filling cartons with ice cream, the ice creamis usually in a partially frozen or semi-liquid con-v dition and .it is caused to fiowunder pressure through a discharge nozzle and into the-carton to be filled. It is not practicable to shut off the fiow of ice cream when removing a filled carton and placing an empty carton under the nomle. and

the handling or-thecartons has generally been a hand operation. The operator usually works with both hands, removing a filled carton with one hand and bringing an empty carton into filling position withthe other hand in an attempt to prevent spilling of any ice cream between the cartons. This practice results in [considerable waste of ice cream and packages are not always filled to the required extent causing additional work either in adding to the insufliciently filled cartons, or in removing the same and emptying the contents back into the hopper of the filling machine.

T e present invention is concerned particularly with a nozzle for mice cream'packagefilling machine which traps the fiow of ice cream out of the nozzle for a sufilcient period to permit automatic feed of the cartons one by one under the nozzle, the flow of ice cream being trapped but not stopped at any point. Such handling of the ice cream permits maintenance 'of substantially uniformpressure on the ice cream and a substantially continuous rate of flow thereof so that it becomes a simple matter to insure accurate filling of the cartons. h

The main object of the invention is to provide anice cream carton filling nor-fie. which will be operative in properly timed relation to carton movements to temporarily trap the fiow of ice cream out of the nozzle so as to prevent discharge of the ice cream outside of the confines of a carton during the feed of cartons to and iromthe nozzle. Anotherobiect of the invention is to provide nozzle mechanism of the character indicated which will be of simple construction and which may easily be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference "to the following specification and drawingwherelnthereisillustratedanoasleemtogether 'bodylngaseiectedformottheinvention zithaticillustrationofitsapplica- In the drawings:

'l'ig. l is a plan of a typical carton feed arran m'ent for delivering cartons to filling position under an ice cream filling machine nozzle;

2 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and i Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the nozzle portion of the filling mechanism.

In one typical form of carton handlingmechil-nism, a series of ice cream cartons, respectively designated I, are advanced to a feed mechanism or conveyor 2, which propels the cartons step by step in a direction at right angles to the series being fed to the conveyor. The conveyor 2 is typified by a, table portion in which there is se a reciprocating bar 3, which carries spring pressed pawls 4 whichare adapted to en a the cartons i to feed them step by step into filling position under a nozzle 5 of an ice cream filling machine.

10 The means for feeding the series of cartons I to the conveyor 2' and the means for reciprocating v the feed member 3 may be of any suitable form,

many oi which are well known in the art. During the travel of the cartons I, they may be held down -by an overlying pressure strip 8 "and, on the conv'eyor 2. by means of side guides 'l-l which overliethe top side edges of the receptacles. The

arrangement forgholdlng the cartons down may.

of course. be varied to suit the particular type of carton being fed.

when the carton in the filling position'repre sented at IA is filled and the next carton represented at E8 is to be advanced to'the filling position, it'ls necessary to prevent ice cream from fiowing'into the space between-the-car'tons IA and IB. It is desirable that this be elected without actually stopping the flow of ice cream through the filling machine nozzle into which the ice cream is fed under pressure.

40 In order to trap the fiow of ice cream without actually stopping the same, there is'provided an improved nozzle construction best shown in Fig. 3 wherein a.v conventional tubular nozzle 8 is shown depending from a-hopper or receptacle I.

5 The ice cream may flow into and through the nomle l under the pressure resulting from the weightof ice" cream in the hopper or the pressure may be developed by suitable pumping mech anism. The nozzle 8 may be a plain circularor 5o rectangular nozzle, it being shown here in rectangular form.

on the nozzle a there is mounted a sleeve II,

the sleeve being vertically slidable on the outside of the nozzle. At the upper end of the 5s sleeve ltthereisprovidedailangcdcollar u for course,besoplacedontheshaftthat aaeasae 3 eooperatingwltharollercarried alever llpivotedintermedia dicatedatil (Fig.2).theother l2beingconnectedbymeansof crank". Thecrankllmaybe conveniently accessible rotating shaft thecartoni'eedingmechanlsmanditshould,

cationofthesleevellwillbeinproperlytimed relation to the feed movement of the cartons.

Referringasalntorimaitwillbeseenthat the lower end ofthe sleeve II is provided with.

ber 24 and slidably mounted in a bearing boss 28 carried on the outside on the sleeve II. In addition, the member 24 maybe slotted as indicated at 21 to receive a headed guide pin 22 which pro'jectsfrom the side of the sleeve ll.

When the sleeve I is moved downwardly to itslowermost position, the lower ends of the racks 22 and 23 engage stops 29 and SI which cause the member 24 to move upwardly'relative to the sleeve '10 thereby imparting rocking motion to the gears or segments 20 and Hand to gates l6 and I1. Upward movement of the member 24 relative to the sleeve thusserves to rock the gates It and II from closed position shown in dotted lines to the open position shown in full lines in Fig. 3.- This opening of the valve plates l6 and I1 is eflected at the end of the downward movement of the sleeve It Upon upward movement of the sleeve, the member 24 and the gates l6 and i1 remain in the position illustrated in Fig. 3 until the upper end ll of the stem 25 engages a stop 32 which effects downward movement of the stem 25 and member 24 relative to the sleeve in during the terminal portion of the upward movement of said sleeve. Such relative downward movement of the member 24 rocks the valve plates is and i! to the closed position illustrated in dotted lines over the lower end of the sleeve ll. At the same time that the 'gates It and I! reach their closed position, the sleeve It starts its downward travel which is preferably eifected at about the same speed that the ice cream flows downwardly through the nozzle 5.

The ice cream, being a relatively thick and not too freely flowing liquid, is effectively retained or trapped in the sleeve Ill during its downward movement without any leakage. During the time that the sleeve It is moving downwardly with its gates l6 and I1 closed, the conveyor 2 is actuated to feed a filled carton from under the nozzle and to deliver an empty carton in filling position. By the time the sleeve IO reaches the position where the gates It and I1 commence to open, an empty carton will have been delivered in place to receive the ice cream which will flow out of the sleeve ll. While the carton is being filled, the sleeve Ill moves upwardly so that by the time the proper amount ten, the gates "and llwillautomaticallybe closed with the-sleeve in it upper position.

tube I is in eifect continuum although intermittently trapped within the sleeve II.

The stem 25 of the valve operating mechanismmaybeprovidedwithapairofrecessesll and 34 for cooperation with a spring pressed de- 10 tent 25 carried by the bearing boss 20. The

' spring pressed detent ii is operative to releasably hold the stem 2|, the valve operating member 24, and the valve plates l4 and II in closed and open positions respectively so that the valve plates II and I1 remain open during the upward movement of the sleeve It and closed durin! the downward movement thereof.

The extent of 'vertical movement of the sleeve' ll may, of course, be adjusted by adjusting the throw of the crank ll or by adjusting the location of the pivot is for the lever l2. Instead of employing the crank for eifecting vertical movement of the sleeve ll, various cam means well understood by skilled mechanics may be substituted and such cam means may be so designed as to substantially eliminate the variation in speed of travel of the sleeve which results from the crank actuation thereof. Also, the stops. 2!,

ill and 32 may be adjusted vertically to cooperate with the respective parts of the member 24 in the various extents of travel of the sleeve- Ill. The stops 2!, SI and 22 may be adlustably mounted on brackets or other conveniently accessible means providedon the filling machine. Various changes in the arrangement may be made without departing from the invention. I claim: Infilling mechanism of the class described, the combination of a nozzle tube, a sleeve slidably mounted on said tube and extending beyond an end thereof, valve means adjustable from closed position to open position on the extended end of said sleeve, means eifecting reciprocation of said'sleeve to alternately project 5 and retract said sleeve relative to said tube, means for opening said valve means at the end of the projecting stroke'of said sleeve, means for closing said valve means at the end of the retracting stroke of said sleeve; and means for 50 maintaining said valve means open during substantially all of the retractive movement of said sleeve, and closed during substantially all of the projecting movement thereof.

FRANK D. PALMER.

REFERENCES crrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 286,782 Colbert Oct. 16, 1883 676,048 Price June 11, 1901 1,000,547 Parshall Aug. 15, 1911 1,007,358 Joplin Oct. 31, 1911 1,045,391 Graf Nov. 26, 1912 1,647,232 Kiefer Nov. 1, 1927 7 1,881,106 Vogt et al Oct. 4, 1932 2,136,224 Weinreich Nov. 8, 1938 2,376,289

Stenglein May 15, 1945 Thusthefiowoficecreamthroughthenossle- 

